Ben Hammott: Siberia

Director Stanislav switched on the weapon. Their previous examinations and the reading of the report Captain Brusilov had made about the use of the weapon, led them to believe the dial on the side altered the power of the light ball it fired. Starting with the lowest setting, he aimed at the target and pulled the button trigger.

Barely making a sound when it fired, the small orange ball of light grew to about twelve inches in diameter. It struck the target without causing any damage and slammed it against the back wall.

“A non-lethal setting,” uttered Svetlana Chuchnova, one of the two females in the group. Svetlana specialized in the interdisciplinary field of materials science and engineering; she also had an avid interest in biomaterials.

Eager to see what else it could do, Stanislav turned the dial to the next setting and aimed at another target.

A small red ball of light shot from the barrel and left a small smoking hole in the target when it passed through. It exploded in a crackling eruption of light when it struck the far wall. Pieces of concrete blasted into the room and clattered to the floor.

Amazed by the weapon’s power and efficacy, the scientists stared at the foot-deep, hand-width wide crater that revealed pieces of metal reinforcing rods.

Rarely one to display emotion, Stanislav surprised them all when he uttered, “Bay!” (Pronounced Vou.) “Wow! There was no recoil and it’s so silent.”

“An excellent stealth weapon,” stated Vadim, the armament technician brought in to work out the technicalities of reverse engineering the weapon. With the help of the other technicians and scientists, his goal was to understand the alien technology in order to replicate the weapon and build more powerful rifle versions with greater range.

After turning the dial to the final setting, Stanislav aimed at the final target.

The bright green ball of light expanded as soon as it left the barrel. It had grown to nine inches wide when it struck the target, which disintegrated where the light struck. The light ball erupted in a shower of sparks on striking the wall. Again, lumps of concrete shot out and skidded across the floor towards the gathered group.

Amazed at the amount of power and destruction such a small weapon could inflict, the team stared at the two-foot-wide, and about the same deep, hole in the wall. Molten metal dripped from the ends of the reinforcing bars the light had eaten through.

“I’d like to see its effects on flesh,” said Alexei Yenotov, a scientist with a wide field of expertise and, at forty-nine years old, the oldest of the group.

Physicist Waldemar Witte smiled. “Are you volunteering, Alexei?” sweeping an arm at the targets.

“No need to comrade, your mother has.” Alexei crossed to the intercom attached to the wall and pressed the talk button linked to the adjoining room. “Luka, bring in the sow.”

Alexei grinned at Waldemar when the large door at the far end of the room opened, and Luka entered with a large sow in tow.

Luka glanced at the ruined targets, the holes in the wall and the concrete debris scattered over the floor. Aware he would be tasked with clearing up the mess, he sighed.

Knowing better than to ask questions or show too much undue interest in what was taking place here, Luka led the pig to the middle of the room in front of the targets. His casual gaze at the scientists focused briefly on one of the two women, Krisztina, who flashed him a fleeting smile. Unable to return a similar expression as the others might see—fraternizing was frowned upon between colleagues but shut off miles from civilization, they had become friends, and shortly after, lovers—he knelt and tethered the large pig to one of the metal rings set in the floor.

“If you’ve finished, Luka…” called out Stanislav, impatient to continue.

Glaring at the man he despised, Luka noticed the unusual object Stanislav held. It looked like a gun, though not like any he recognized. He assumed whatever it was, it was why they had all been ordered to the facility in the ass end of the Siberian wilderness. He also assumed it was responsible for the destruction in the room, the excited activity that had started a few days ago, and the reason for the pig and the cow that had been brought to the secret facility a few days before. He had asked Krisztina what was happening, but she had refused to tell him. No one trusted the government not to be listening. Even though things had changed with the long overdue collapse of the Berlin Wall, the facility had been constructed in an era when mistrust was prevalent in all walks of Russian life and when listening devices were used extensively to eavesdrop on the masses.

Luka stroked the sacrificial pig’s head. If there was anything left of the animal when the scientists had finished with it, pork would be on the menu for the next few weeks. He exited through the large door he had entered through and waited with the cow tethered to the rail running the length of the wall.

After turning the dial back to the first lethal setting, Stanislav handed the pistol to Vadim. “Now you’ve seen it in action, do you think replication is feasible?”

Vadim eagerly took possession of the alien weapon. “Its power source and charging unit will probably cause us the most headaches, but I’ve reverse engineered and modified other countries’ weapons that have fallen into Russia’s hands, so I’m confident between us we shall succeed—or share the blame for failing.”

Stanislav nodded in understanding. No one wanted to be singled out to take the full brunt of any repercussions failure would bring. Stalin might be dead and the cold war behind them, but gulags and fatal punishments remained. The report he would make to his superiors after the tests should be well received. Hopefully, when they had designed and built prototypes ready for mass producing new weapons equipped with alien technology, it would go a long way to seeing his status upgraded and getting him transferred to a less remote and inhospitable location. If reverse engineering the weapons proved impossible, he would ensure the brunt of the responsibility for the failure fell on his subordinates.

When Vadim raised the weapon, all eyes in the room focused on the pig looking at them curiously. The sow grunted when the small ball of light passed through its side and skidded along the floor in a trail of bright sparks. It squealed and yanked at its tether when it felt the pain.

Krisztina forced herself not to avert her eyes from the distressing sight. It wouldn’t do to show weakness in front of her comrades.

Fascinated, Alexei moved a few steps closer to the stricken pig and stared through the neat hole in its flesh. “The heat has cauterized the wound, stopping the flow of blood.”

“Try the next setting,” encouraged Waldemar. “Aim for the head so you don’t destroy all that delicious pork.”

As he returned to the table, Vadim turned the dial one click. Taking careful aim, he fired at the pig’s head.

The growing green ball of light was on target. The pig’s head disappeared in a bright flash when it struck. The light ball bounced off the floor in a spray of color and split up into smaller balls that sprayed holes in the targets and the walls. As lumps of concrete clattered to the floor, the headless pig collapsed on its knees.

Stanislav beamed as he crossed to the intercom. The tests were going better than expected. His superiors couldn’t help but be impressed. He pressed the talk button. “Bring in the cow.”

Luka entered with the cow a few moments later.

“Just leave it free,” ordered Stanislav.

Luka glanced at the dead pig that emitted the aroma of seared pork. Though its head was missing there was no blood. Wondering what kind of weapon could produce such an effect, he let go of the rope around the cow’s neck and left the room.